Mandarin Oriental hotels to feature Surface Pro tablets, Windows 8.1

Guests at some Mandarin Oriental hotels will soon be able to use Surface Pro tablets provided in their rooms to manage key parts of their stay such as in-room dining and housekeeping requests.

Microsoft and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced a partnership Tuesday that will feature the tablets and Windows 8.1 at the hotel’s London, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Tokyo locations.

Mandarin Oriental has created a suite of five custom Windows 8.1 touch apps, available in nine different languages, that manage hotel services, while providing information about the hotel’s facilities as well as access to guest feedback and guest preferences.

Leveraging the Microsoft platform, Mandarin Oriental is able to integrate a combination of services formerly offered via the television, telephone and in-room guest book, with content available on the company’s website to deliver a more intuitive in-room experience.

“We are currently operating in 25 countries and with our expansion into new markets we needed a powerful, secure, yet easy-to-manage solution with robust language support, which Microsoft technologies can offer,” said Monika Nerger, Mandarin Oriental’s chief information officer.

For more on how the hotel group plans to use Microsoft technology, read the press release.